Robin's Equal
by Lady Edelweiss
Summary: There is one person who can rival the famous Robin Hood, and sometimes even do better than him. But no one guesses that she is his own twin.
1. The kidnapping

Disclaimer- I disclaim all that I do not own, including Robin, Will, Marian, etc., but I claim all that I do own, including Natalia and maybe others.

Chapter 1- Twins are born

Long ago, in the small shire of Locksley, two children, long awaited, were born. These infants delighted the new parents. One was a girl, one a boy. Perfect, the mother could train the girl, who was named Natalia, and the father could train the boy, Robin. Now, reader, you are most likely thinking that Robin is the famous Robin Hood, and you are correct. "But Robin was an only child, how is it possible?" you ask? Here is what happened.

One cold night, in a fog so thick, that if you dared to venture outside, you could not see your own feet, a stranger came creeping up upon the household. The twins were but three summers old at the time. This stranger was an old wizard. By magical means, he had made himself invisible, and stealthily glided into the room were Natalia and Robin were sleeping. But at the time, a nurse had come right up to the nursery door. The wizard had only time enough to snatch one child, thinking he had the boy. But of course, the twins, being perfectly alike in appearance and temperance, no matter how hard one tried, would be indistinguishable until some years later.

So, of course as you, reader, are no doubt thinking, the wizard had grabbed Natalia instead. But Natalia was an incredibly cunning child, and knew her fortunes would be better if she passed herself off as a boy. All who knew her at the time had their memories wiped blank by the wizard, who had very powerful wizardry. But this spell had one flaw. Natalia had only to introduce herself by her true name for her family and friends to recognize her. But if she ver did that, she would lose all her magic.

The wizard, whose name was Allen, was quite a kind man despite this kidnapping. He had detected magic in the twins' household, and knew that it came from these two toddlers. Allen realized that their parents would never give them up, and magic that srong was just pleading to be trained and used. Allen had the presumption (a very wrong one) that boys' magic was always stronger than girls' so he made up his mind that he would claim Robin as his apprentice. But of course, he never did.

Natalia (known as Nat to Allen) was also a very powerful wizard. Allen trained her well not only in magic, but in music, swordfighting, and other subjects. Most important of all was, ofcourse, archery.

A.N.- So sorry about the shortness, but my it's late.


	2. The Archery Tournaments

Disclaimer-I disclaim all that I do not own, and I claim all that I do own.

A.N. I do try to edit my stories, but chapter 1 of this was somehow lost, I'll try to do better next time. Also, in my version, Robin, Will, and Marian all meet earlier than in the real story, and Marian is an archer, but this isn't the real story. And a reminder, Natalia is diguised as a boy (Nathan) and nobody except herself knows that she is a girl. One more thing, and I'll cease my banter. What shires are Marian and Will from? I've completely forgotten and would like to know.

Chapter 2- The Archery Tournaments

At the age of 9, Nat could read, write, do intermediate arithmetic, was a very good apprentice, and was proven to be the county's best child archer. She was the best of ages 0-14. Allen was of course, rather proud of her, or as he thought, him.

So, when Nat (and Robin) had turned 11 years old, Allen decided to take Nat to the children's archery competition in Nottingham.

As you undoubtedly already have guessed, Robin of Locksley had entered. So had Will Scarlett. And so had Marian. The archery tournament was part of the annual town fair, and the and the four best archers of the children's tournament would be allowed to compete in the adults' tournament. The herald announced the archers' names.

" Round one at 15 feet. Phillip of York, target one!

Richard of Nottingham, target two!

Nolan of London, target three!

Will Scarlett, target four!

John of Camdenton, target five!

Robin of Locksley, target six!

Nathan (our Natalia) of Maldenshire, target seven!

And Marian-" There was a chorus of "BOOS" at a girl's name.

"Now, now, people this is an open tournament. Let the lass compete. And now, is everyone in place?" The archers all replied "Aye!" "Now let the tournament begin!" Phillip aimed, then fired. He missed the target completely. Next went Richard, who struck the second to outermost ring, and so on it went.

"Round two at 25 feet! Nolan of London, fire!" Nolan struck one of the middle rings.

"Will Scarlett, fire!" Will struck just outside of a bulls' eye.

"Robin of Locksley, fire!" Robin was even closer than Will.

"Marian, fire!" Marian hit almost the exact same spot as Will

"And last but not least, Nathan of Maldenshire, fire!" Nat struck dead center. Not just inside the bulls' eye, in the exact center of the bulls' eye. There was a tremendous round of cheers and applause for Nat.

"The champion of the children's tourney is Nathan of Maldenshire! Our four skilled archers that will proceed to the main tourney are Will, Robin, Marian, and Nathan!" The four children were ushered to a large tent at the edge of the fair.

Thekids got themselves acquainted, and all found that they rather enjoyed each others' company. All praised each others' skills, and congratulated Nat on winning. Now, reader, yes, yes. I am perfectly aware that I said Natalia and Robin were almost identical, but I also said that it was for several years. And of course, eight years had passed since the twins were last together, and though the two did look rather alike, they had grown apart (literally) in looks, personality, and homes.

For example, Robin was rather shy, obedient, and dutiful to his parents. He was quite a tall boy, too. Natalia was bold, sociable, mischievous, and liked to question and argue against many orders. Natalia was also just a little short for her age. But both had equal intelligence and athletic abilities, but of course, since Natalia had had proper training, her wizardry was actually originally slightly more powerful to begin with, and Robin wasn't even aware of his powers, of course Natalia's wizardry by far outstripped Robin's by a great deal.

And it was one of these times wizardry came to aid its wizards. Each twin had the oddest feeling that the other was someone very close to them. Now, Robin had forgotten all memories of Natalia, and Natalia had only a dim recollection of her family, so neither recognized the other. At least not yet.

About 30 minutes later, the herald's voice came through to the kids.

"Come on children, time for the main tourney!" They all went out into the crowd. Now, mind you, some of England's very best archers of the age were at the fair. And England has a lot of very good archers.

"Round one at 40 feet! Neal of York, up to the mark. Fire! Jacob of London, up to the mark. Fire! Allen of Maldenshire, up to the mark. Fire! Michael of Nottingham, up to the mark. Fire! Wilfred of Southampton, up to the mark. Fire! Luke of Southamptonshire, up to the mark. Fire! Sebastian of London, up to the mark. Fire! Will Scarlett, up to the mark. Fire! Maid Marian, up to the mark. Fire! Robin of Locksley, up to the mark. Fire! Nathan of Maldenshire, up to the mark. Fire!" After each hit or miss, the crowd stomped, clapped, jeered, or cheered. There was a brief intermission, and the remaining archers came up again.

"Round two at 50 feet! Jacob, fire! Allen, fire! Wilfred, fire! Luke, fire! Robin, fire! And Nathan, fire!" Some people were utterly amazed that the two eleven-year olds managed to beat three adults in the first round (and two other kids).

"Round three at 60 feet! Luke, up to the mark. Ready, aim, fire!" Luke made a very good shot, just narrowly missing the bulls-eye.

"Wilfred, up to the mark. Ready, aim, fire!" Wilfred was extremely unlucky this time. A blast of wind came out of nowhere and blew the arrow off course. It missed the target by at least two feet. But still, who could complain about they believed was fate.

"Robin, up to the mark. Ready, aim, fire!" It hit the bulls-eye. There was an avalanche of applause, noise, and cheers for Robin.

"Nathan, up to the mark. Ready, aim, fire!" It made it about ¼ of an inch to the left of Robin's. Not as good as Robin's shot this time, but it was extremely close. Now, of course, the crowd was awe-struck at the skill of these two young archers.

"Final round at 70 feet! Robin, up to the mark. Fire whenever you're ready!" Robin took a whole minute aiming bow and arrow, then brought back his hand, stretching the string as far as it could possibly go, then released. Whoosh! A sharp jab, and the arrow was stuck in the target at the very center of the bulls' eye. The people in the crowd were all muttering and murmuring.

"Nathan, up to the mark please. Fire away when you're ready," the herald instructed. Natalia also took a while to aim, and went through the exact same steps as Robin had, but with the opposite hand. She released, and Robin's arrow was, as you probably no doubthave guessedalready, sliced right in half by Nat's arrow.

"And the winners of this year's archery tournament, Robin of Locksley and Nathan of Maldenshire!" The herald finally announced after everyone was finished going through a state of extreme shock.


	3. He finally knows

Disclaimer-I own only my own characters and ideas, such as the concept of Robin's twin, Natalia and Allen, etc.

Chapter 3- He finally knows

Allen had been quiet throughout the entire archery tournament, for Nat's sake. So, all those years ago he had grabbed the girl, and even at that young age, she had passed herself off as her brother. But at the tournament, clearly, was her brother. That Robin of Locksley. A worthy lad, but his wizardry was nearly wasted away. Robin would be no good as a wizard now. He'd just have to keep the girl. She had proved herself to be as good as any boy throughout these years, and Allen had become quite fond of her. Not to mention his nephew, Charles. The two had become very good friends. But what was her name? Surely it wasn't Nathan, as she had led Allen to believe.

"Allen, is something the matter? Are you sore that I beat you?" Nat asked as they walked towards the inn.

"No, of course not. I'm quite proud of you. Nat, if that's your name. You have managed to fool me for many long years. Now, I suppose you are actually the girl?"

"Allen. I've been your apprentice for eight years, and you are a very powerful wizard. Why are you accusing me of fooling you?"

"You are a good actor. And I should have told you this before. I am just an average wizard compared to what you are, or can be. Most people have memories from when they were two. You were three years old when I took you. I always told you it was necessary, that your power would go astray if you didn't harness it, but that is a lie. When you are uninformed of wizardry, it simply lies dormant for years, only coming out to aide you in times of your greatest need. Now, surely you remember your family?"

"Only dimly, sir."

"You were born in the shire of Locksley. You had a twin, but even I would not be able to cast a memory charm strong enough if both children were taken away. So I decided I wanted a boy."

"Me?"

"No, not you. You have fooled me all this time, but now I see. What is your name?" Nat hesitated. She seemed to be debating whether or not to keep acting, and see if Allen let up. She sighed.

" Natalia of Locksley, I suppose. What are you going to do with me now?"

"Well, my memory charm was not perfect. But once cast, it may not be taken away by the wizard who cast it. But you can break it, Natalia. You have only to introduce yourself by the name they new you by, and they will immediately remember."

"Locksley. Robin of Locksley. I did get a funny feeling about him. I suppose he's my twin?"

"Yes. But there is another flaw. Once their memory is revived, both of us would lose our powers."

"Then I suppose the world will know me now as Nathan of Maldenshire?"

"Yes. We will carry on with your lessons as planned, but you must admit, you cannot carry this on for much longer. Did you ever plan to tell me?" They had finally reached the Longbow Inn." Both Natalia and Allen were a bit angry at the other for lying, but it would not affect their trust for a while yet.

Now, reader, we must end this chapter.


	4. The Sudden Decision

Disclaimer- I own only my own imagination.

ali of redwall- well, you bring up some very interesting points. Well, first of all, even if she was three, Nat still was a wizard even then, so that could have helped disguise her. As for her family, like I said before, Allen cast a memory charm on all of them, and third, Nat still remembered her family, after all, she wasn't really a baby anymore.

Chapter 4. The change of heart

Allen tried not to let his behavior be affected by the sudden discovery, but it is hard after you had become so accustomed to a certain fact. Natalia too, tried not to be affected, but that is hard to do when you suddenly find out that a person had not only kidnapped you, he had lied so that he could keep you, and made an error with a very severe consequence. They succeeded for a little more than one year.

"Nat, wake up! Sunup was a long time ago, and today is the anniversary of your birth, have you forgotten?" Charles yelled to her through the door.

"I've been up, waiting for you! And how could I forget? I'm now thirteen years old!" Natalia said as she came out.

"Here, I got this for you in town." Charles handed Nat a beautifully carved dirk, suitable for young lad in those times.

"Thank you. I'm glad to see you know me well enough not to try giving me an embroidery cloth or something," She said as she tucked the dirk into its sheath and put that in an old wooden box.

"Well, come on, Uncle is most likely waiting for us outside."

"You know, I detest wearing these gowns. Too bad Allen insists, now that you two know I'm a girl." The two walked down to the stable, where the horses were kept. Natalia's blue roan gelding, Ned was eagerly awaiting her, along with Allen.

"I've fed them all, but I haven't cleaned out the stable yet. Charles, would you mind attending to that? Meanwhile, Natalia, I must have a word with you." She led her to the little grove of maples across the field from the cottage and the stable.

"Well, I'll waste no words. Natalia, you are a young lady now. I know I am a poor peasant, really, but your parents were well above my station though they weren't of course one of the high lords and ladies. I know you wish to continue your training with me, but the truth is, you've learned all that I can teach you very, very quickly. I hadn't mastered half these skills when I was grown, even. But you cannot carry on as a peasant wizard's apprentice. Therefore, I am sending you to be educated in the ladylike arts at the Greenleaf Abbey."

Nat was too shocked to even utter a single sound. She just stared at Allen. Finally, she regained her ability to speak.

"Allen, have you caught some sort of an illness?"

"Now is not the time to joke around, Natalia. I've allowed you free reign for too long. Pack your things. You leave tomorrow." Allen walked away.

How could he do this to me? Nat thought. The man who went so far as to kidnap me, and even when he found I was not the one he intended for, kept me anyway, he one who trained me and treated me as his own nephew, or even son, then afterwards, his daughter. And what on earth would she do without Charles? The two had shared a roof for many years, and had been like siblings. They had become each others' dearest friend, and now Allen, the one who had raised both, now suddenly decided to separate them.


	5. A Plan

_Thanks to all who reviewed! Another story is finally updated! _

**Chapter 5 – A Plan**

The door to Charles' room creaked as Natalia crept in. She started rummaging through the truck, throwing things out of it. One of them landed on the snoring Charles.

"Wha- who's there?" Charles said.

"Shhh!" Natalia clapped a hand to his mouth. "You'll wake up Allen!"

"What are you doing?" Charles whispered.

"Listen. I need some of your clothes. The ones I used to wear are far too small for me now. I don't give a wit as to what Allen says; I am not going into the care of some old nuns."

"Are you mad? You're running away?" Charles asked incredulously.

"Well what choice do I have? They're going to make me sit and sew all day in a windowless room with 'proper' ladies. Girls aren't even allowed to work on the books in abbeys!" Natalia plopped herself down on Charles' bed.

"Well… all right," Charles said slowly. "I guess so. But where are you going to go? You know how dangerous it is out on the roads!"

"I'll go to London. I'm sure there's something I can do there to earn myself some money."

"London? How are you going to travel that far? Allen will be sure to come chasing after you," Charles cautioned.

"I'll take Ned with me. And I know enough magic to hide myself," Natalia said.

"Even from Allen?" Charles asked.

"Especially from Allen. I've seen him work, so I'll know exactly what spells he'll use."

"Well you are _not_ going alone!" Charles declared, swinging himself out of bed.

"No, you are not!" Natalia retorted. "It'll be dangerous enough with one person, and Allen needs you."

"Now if he's stupid enough to send you away just because you're not your brother!"

"But I might not be able to hide you too!"

Charles thought for a moment. "I think I know a way." He beckoned Natalia forward and whispered his plan to her. Grimly, she nodded.


End file.
